Issues

Draft analysis calls for changes to Wyoming sage-grouse management plans. According to a draft environmental impact statement (EIS), obtained by E&E News, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is recommending changes to Obama-era greater sage-grouse conservation measures in Wyoming. However, a source notes that BLM’s draft EIS has not yet been finalized and likely won’t be released to the public until next month at the earliest.

The 83-page draft EIS details the “preferred alternative” to current sage-grouse management plans, which includes easing restrictions on oil and gas development and expanding permitting exemptions in Wyoming. Other changes outlined in the document include:

  • Removing “oil and gas prioritization language” that gives preference to projects outside of Priority Habitat Management Areas;
  • Integrating flexibility into the plans to be able to adjust habitat management area boundaries without the need for a plan amendment;
  • Making states the lead on sage-grouse management within their borders;
  • Removing the Sagebrush Focal Area (SFA) designations that were proposed for ten million acres of Western land – 252,000 acres of which are in Wyoming; and
  • Developing a “programmatic analysis” that could lead to broadening the use of categorical exclusions.

While the BLM said that it “cannot comment on a document that is not complete,” the draft EIS notes its goal is to comply with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Secretarial Order 3353, which ordered states and stakeholders to “improve alignment between federal management plans.” It is unclear whether the BLM is concurrently working on additional EISs for the nine other Western states included in the Obama administration’s 2015 sage-grouse management plans.

In the News

Tequila drinkers should toast this bat’s recovery. E&E News (Sub req’d). The flying mammal that helped inspire “bat-friendly tequila” deserves removal from Endangered Species Act protections, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. The lesser long-nosed bat, which once staggered dangerously close to potential extinction, now has a population roughly estimated to be upward of 200,000. Its remarkable rebound marks the first time officials have succeeded in taking a bat species off the ESA list due to recovery. “The science clearly shows threats to the bat have been eliminated or reduced to the point that the bat has recovered,” Fish and Wildlife Service Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders said in a statement. The bat was designated an endangered species in 1988. Its removal from the ESA list takes effect 30 days after publication in tomorrow’s Federal Register. Its delisting has been sought for several years by groups such as the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association and the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation. The formal delisting proposal was made in January 2017, in the final weeks of the Obama administration.

Mouse found in Colorado, Wyoming remains on protected list. Associated Press. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a long-tailed mouse found only in Colorado and Wyoming will remain protected under the Endangered Species Act. The agency on Monday rejected a petition filed by homebuilders and ranchers who argued the Preble’s meadow jumping mouse shouldn’t be protected. They said it isn’t a distinct subspecies but is essentially the same as other, more plentiful mice. The agency says the petition didn’t include substantial evidence. Pacific Legal Foundation, which filed the petition, says it’s disappointed. The group says it will review the decision with its clients before deciding whether to challenge it in court. The mouse was listed as threatened in 1998. Its identity has been disputed for years, prompting multiple legal challenges. Opponents say the protections result in costly and unnecessary restrictions on land use.

Fish and Game outlines grizzly hunt. Post-Register. A few dozen members of the public attended the first public meeting Tuesday night at the College of Eastern Idaho concerning the proposed Idaho grizzly hunt. Idaho’s proposed hunt — in which a single, hopefully male, grizzly would be taken — follows the official decision to delist the Yellowstone grizzly under the Endangered Species Act. Wyoming also plans to hold its first grizzly hunting season in decades, while Montana has opted not to commence a hunting season this year. The number of bears which can be taken in each state is determined by what portion of the Yellowstone grizzly’s habitat lies in each state. Since Idaho has only about 8 percent of the habitat within its boundaries, the Gem State has far fewer potential hunting tags allocated to it under the delisting agreement. Staff from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game laid out their proposal for the hunt, the units in which hunting could take place and the rules which would have to be followed by the hunter who draws the tag.

Species in conflict: Minnesota wolf management follows bumpy path on road to recovery. Grand Forks Herald. Love them or hate them, few animals evoke stronger emotions than the gray wolf. Iconic without question, a symbol of wild places and revered by people who want them protected at all costs. But also a top-level predator, scorned by ag producers when wolves raid their livestock and despised by the hunters who believe wolves kill too many deer. There’s no middle ground on wolves, it seems. “Something I like to tell people, and I’ve always been—love ’em, hate ’em, whatever your thoughts on them—I like to think if you have wolves in an area, it tells you you’re living in a pretty cool wilderness area,” said Jeff Birchem, a retired conservation officer for the Department of Natural Resources in northwest Minnesota. The recovery of the gray wolf in Minnesota is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act, which protected Minnesota wolves and put them under management of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service beginning in 1974.